The Tree is UP!!

The tree was put up today! We will decorate it tomorrow. When Daniel woke up from his nap and saw the tree he said "It's beautiful! I like it!" He is so funny! He really likes Christmas and it is so much fun to really understand it all!

Christmas Lights

Last night we went to the Children's Garden in Camden, NJ to see their Holiday Lights display. We met up with the Hinson family and had a great time walking around in the cold! The kids didn't seem to mind! I love the cold and didn't mind it so much either, except I was so concerned about getting the kids all bundled up I forgot gloves and a hat for myself! Oh well! It wasn't really THAT cold!

Daniel was funny as he LOVES lights! He was all smiles until..... we met Santa! He refused to sit on his lap. When we first went into "Santa's Lodge" he was talking and looking at Santa, but as we got closer he started to cry and yell NO! We managed to sit with Santa as a family and Carisa took this great picture!We came home and Andy and I just relaxed. Now today is a big cleaning day to get our tree up! It MUST get up tonight! I am ashamed it is not up already! Especially since Daniel will LOVE all the lights we put up around the house. Next year I will be more on top of things, right???

Life Keeps Going

I really can't believe that Christmas is only 12 days away! We still don't have our tree up! Life has just been moving along and things will hopefully start settling down in the next few days. Andy's last Teen Club of the year was tonight. He has Christmas Caroling with the Teens Monday evening and then his evening responsibilities are done for the year! YEAH!! He will be home at night for a few weeks before things start up again. My only responsibilities this coming week are teaching Sunday School, a God's Girl's Christmas Party Sunday evening and the Prayer Pals Christmas party Wednesday night. I also have Jury Duty Monday!!! Hopefully, I won't get picked. There is far too much to do before the 25th! I guess we'll see.

Matt started the day with a poor attitude which earned him a trip to church with Daddy to do school. We have decided, for now, this is what is going to happen. He did remarkably well in completing his work while there. He came home and we did Science and Art. He then only had to finish two assignments, Math and English, which should have taken him a total of 60 minutes. Instead, he drug it out for almost three hours!!!! I still don't understand his thinking. I am hoping one day he will get the picture that if he just sits and does the work he can then have fun! One day!

Daniel's vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds! He is speaking so clearly. Everyone is amazed. I am so thankful as he is tongue tied. His frenulum is attached to the tip of his tongue which can cause problems with speech. He has been like this since birth and the doctors that I go to said they don't do anything about it anymore. I am just to keep an ear out and make sure he isn't having any speech issues. So far, so good! I think he is going to be like his sister and talk non-stop! They should be good company for one another!

Preteen Christmas Party

Last night was the preteen Christmas party. It was so much fun! There were 52 preteens in attendance! Two churches, Trinity United Methodist from NJ and Central Baptist Church of Bucks County, did an incredible job running the program and providing both gifts and snacks. There were crafts to do, sweets to eat, a puppet show to watch, gifts to receive, and school supplies to restock on. The kids also received much needed hats and gloves thanks to Bethel Chapel of Huntingdon Valley. The kids were busy! The groups that came down really interacted well with the preteens and the preteens were shown God's love in action! I always find it amazing that people give to children they do not know. They give because they know the God that loves these kids and are being His hands and feet. I really love this group of preteens! They are fun loving and many of them have a deep desire to have a personal relationship with Christ. I am sad as many of them will be moving up in the next few months. But Andy will be able to keep tabs on them as they start attending God Squad and Teen Club. What will be more interesting is the group of ten year-olds moving up in the next six months! We have a herd of ten year old staff kids! Matt, Eliza, Josh, Morgan, and Eleanna will be moving up! HELP!!! I am so not ready for this group! They are an interesting bunch that, if they put their collective will together, will do a mighty work for God in this neighborhood! Please pray for us (and them) as we guide them in the truth and that they will take on the faith as their own.

Here are several pictures to show you the fun the kids had last night!

This is the long sleeve t-shirt that each preteen received. On the front upper left corner is our church name and then a message on the back: He died for me, I live for Him. It is fun to hear teacher comments when the kids all wear their shirts to school the next day! I only hope the kids behavior matches their testimony on the shirt! Pray for the kids as we will not have Kids' Club again until January 29th.

WHEW!!!!

This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity! I don't think I have ever been so tired! In fact, last night (Saturday) I was in bed by 7:30pm! My wonderful husband bathed and put all the kids to bed so I could go to bed! He's so great! I slept from 7:30 pm till 8:15 am! It felt sooooo good! So what has made me so tired? Friday night was our yearly Cornerstone Adult Christmas Party. There were about 100 people there! It has been getting really big the past few years! It seems to be the highlight of the holidays. We had fun playing games and eating dinner with April and her niece Desiree, who had just had a baby the week before! April's testimony is amazing and her walk with the Lord is such a great example to the people of our neighborhood. I really enjoy spending time with her.

The other thing that made me so tired was the fact that I was up until the wee hours of the morning everyday last week (about 1-2 am) baking cookies for our big cookie day yesterday! We had 47 different kinds of cookies! I ended up making nine cookies/ goodies, many of them double batches. Here is a picture of the setup.

We had to move into my mom's living room this year because we had so many! Here is a picture of my completed pile. I made plates/ tins for all our staff and some neighbors.

Sarah joined us this year and did a great job as a "runner". She ran the plates to MomMom, who wrapped them in cello-wrap and tied beautiful ribbons around them. Sarah also ran the plates to their designated area and put tags on each of them. She was one hoppin' little girl!

After cookie day we went to "The Spotted Hog" at Peddler's Village for lunch. It was so crowded! We got in right away to each lunch and walked around the different stores. I found a great new pair of flannel pj's for $20. I LOVE them! But I'll have to hem the pants as they are WAY TOO LONG! I think they were made for a giant!

We had church this morning and I taught Sunday School as December is my month. We then stayed after church to have our photos taken for our new prayer card. Here is a preview of the one I am thinking we should use:

Ha! Ha! Just kidding!!!! But I thought it was so funny!!!! (You have to look at Daniel)

Andy and the kids stayed after for a bit longer to help with the setup of the 7-10 year old Christmas Party for tomorrow night. The Preteen one is being held Tuesday night and 5&6's is being held Wednesday night. Please be in prayer for all three parties. That there would be sufficient help, enough gifts, and a great message being shared at each party. Also, be in prayer for the kids who were not invited and the parents who get upset over this fact. There are specific guidelines in each club for those who get invited. There has to be as we can't afford to invite everyone. It is mainly based on attendance. 110 kids have been invited to the 7-10 year old party, 50 to the preteen and 50 to 5&6's. That's a lot of kids! But so many more have come maybe 1 or 2 times and then think they should be invited to the party. It's hard to turn them away, but what else can we do?

Guardian Angels

Daniel continues to test the strength and power of his guardian angels. Tonight he decided to "look" in the fish tank and pulled it down. He has never attempted to do this before. He was scared - as was I when I heard the crash and piercing scream. Fortunately he only came away with two small scratches near his chin. There was 20 gallons of water all over the floor, but that was easily vacuumed. There were no fish in the tank as the last one died a few weeks ago. I just hadn't gotten around to cleaning out the tank and putting it away until one of the kids was old enough to take care of the pets themselves. I guess Daniel helped along in that project!

School continues to be tough. Yesterday, Matt went to work with Andy and did school with him all day. He was gone from 9:00 am until 4:30 pm. Almost like he would be if he went to school! We are considering several options in how to handle Matt's schooling. Please pray for us as we make decisions. One of the options we are considering is putting him in a public school in the neighborhood. We know the principal as we went to college with him. He also told us that several of the teachers there are Christians. It is a tough decision because 1) we don't want Matt's heart getting any harder than it is towards authority and the school is a tough one, 2) the school curriculum would be a breeze for Matt to handle and he would get very lazy, and 3) how would this effect his character? Please pray we make the BEST decision for Matt and our family.

We did art today and the kids painted (again!). That's twice this week! We are discussing the primary colors (red, blue, yellow). They had to choose a painting challenge and paint with only those three colors. Matt chose to paint a boat on the water with a man fishing and Sarah chose to paint a picture of a child pulling a wagon. I think they did a great job!

Miserable Monday followed by Terrible Tuesday

The kids were miserable yesterday and today has been no improvement. They are complaining about every assignment, fussing about doing jobs around the house and are just at each other all the time. It has been a tough two days of getting school done as well as getting the house in order. What I don't understand is that we have been doing school at home for SEVEN YEARS and I still get grief about doing it! You would think that they would get the idea that this is what we do and just do it. I know my kids are not easy kids. They are strong-willed, stubborn, and independent. They are the kids God gave me - I often wonder why. I know I was also stubborn, strong-willed and independent as a child, but I did my work because I knew that was what was expected of me. Andy and I are baffled by their defiance when told to do their school work. I often hear from other homeschooling mom's how their children get their assignment sheets and go off and do their work. I am extremely jealous of these mothers! At this point Matt and Sarah are already two days behind on several of their assignments. It looks as if they may be doing school on Saturday.

I, however, am going to go to "Cookie day" with my mom and sister on Saturday. That is the day we get together and exchange all the cookies we have made and give out to friends and family. It is a fun day and I really enjoy putting the tins and plates together. This year I am making: Butterscotch Haystacks, Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Haystacks, Peanut Blossoms, Snickerdoodles, Peanut Brittle, Oatmeal Toffee Cookies, Farmhouse Chocolate Mint Cookies, and Muddy Buddies (or Puppy Chow). If I get time I also want to make Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers, Toffee Grahams, and Carmel Candy Bars. We'll see what time allows.

Today for Physics we discussed protons, neutrons, and electrons. We then discussed how scientists use models to represent things we cannot see with our eyes. Today we made the Lithium atom. They had fun painting (see Carisa! I let them paint!) and putting it together. I have to do more things like this. It is the only time today the two of them cooperated. They are making another one on Thursday.

The yellow balls are neutrons, the blue are protons, and the red are electrons. I LOVE science!

Please pray that the kids and I would get back into a flowing routine and that we would all be patient and kind towards one another. Please pray for our attitudes to be adjusted!